Did you notice the way AHL calls up played last season? They played aggressively and with great energy for 3-4 games before settling back into lethargic confusion and passive play. Ultimately they were sent back down. I attribute it to the different approaches employed by Boucher and Martin.

Subban played an up tempo style under Boucher last season. We saw the results in the playoffs and the beginning of this season. Martin is slowly re-programming him to take fewer chances and slow down. Not good.

Why is it that rookies are not allowed to make mistakes but we put up with them when it’s veterans that make them?

ON THE CONTRARY, the mesh should be shorter with veterans NOT ROOKIES! Martin’s got it all upside down.

Something needs to be done. Eller cannot continue to play only 4-5 minutes a game. Place him on one of the top 2 lines or send him down to Hamilton. With the PhD being one of our most solid lines, there is no room for Eller on the 3rd. I say place Eller on the wing with AK-Plek, or as 2nd line center in between Cammi and Pouliot. If not, then he’s forced to be delegated to the 4th line, which is NOT a solution. If that’s the case, let him play in Hamilton FFS.

I can’t believe the Eller situation has taken this long to be addressed. When will PG or Martin do something? How long will Eller be playing 4 minutes a game doing absolutely NOTHING before he’s sent down or given more ice time?

Personally, I don’t think the Blues or the Halak fans have anything to worry about. He;s always had bad games like this every once in a while. Even with how well he played last year, he still had more 4+ goals against games than Price did. He always bounces back, though.

I miss Saku too man. I’m actually driving to Montreal from London, ON for the Jan. 22nd game to see his return. I’ll be wearing a Habs Saku jersey and will most likely bring a “Welcome Home Saku” sign with me (or something to that effect).

I’m telling you man, JM will ruin the development of Subban, Eller & any young player if he continues to coach this team. He’s overrated and his record as head coach is misleading. Look at thw way Subban was playing earlier in the year & the way he’s been playing the last 4-5 games. Is management that blind to see that?

FYI – Koivu scored the only goal in Ducks 1-0 win over Islanders last night, set up the winning goal against the Sharks the night before and has 6 points in the last 4 games. Ducks have won 5 in a row.

Agreed, however if you’re a 100-million dollar novelist, does that mean you should be able to write a 100-million dollar poem?

I’m a goalie by trade when it comes to hockey, but when I’ve played as a forward and get the rare opportunity for a breakaway, I have found that my brain can cramp up in thinking of all the options I have while figuring out what move to make.. maybe he’s human after all? 😛

In his haste to turn around the Leafs, Burke seems to have lost his sense of judgement. Calling an undrafted free agent out of the NCAA a first line centre doesn’t make him so. Kessel for what looks like 2 lottery choices? Maybe he didn’t forsee the Leafs tanking last year and looking for a repeat this year … but still. It looks like Boston is going to be set up to be a capital C Contender in the coming years, and that trade looks to be no small part of it. Things are grim in Toronto, and Burke’s spinning of the Tragedy on Ice in Toronto as a problem with the Leafs’ culture looks increasingly like an attempt to cover up some of his own poor calls.

And, to go off on a tangent, I have no schadenfreude over Halak getting shelled. Both Halak and Price are immensely talented goalies. Trying to choose between them … I can’t. I like them both, albeit for different reasons. Halak is about hard work and focus. Price is about size talent. What I would’ve loved is for an evil genius to create THE GOAL-E COMBINATOR!!! that’d combine Halak’s best traits with Price’s. That’d be one monster goalie to contend with, along the lines of one of the Gazette’s writers saying that it’d be a beautiful thing to combine Gionta’s hard work, determination, and talent with AK’s body.

St. Louis loses 8-1… As much as I’d like to see Halak do well – just not as well as Price… It’ll be nice to get a little break from the St. Louis fans around here for a day or two.

Oh – and I still don’t really understand what JM is doing with the young guns… Eller, OByrne, etc… Or why after such a successful start to the season he feels the need to split up AK and Plekanec who are arguably the best pairing on the team…

Isn’t it 11:11am that we’re meant to have a moment of silence? Just in case, I’ll plan for 11:00am and 11:11am, given it’s the absolute least I could do for the ultimate sacrifice made by those who serve on our behalf.

This isn’t meant to come across as some xenophopic comment, but I don’t think Russian hockey players practice the shootout very much and many don’t feel comfortable with it in general. There are several Russian players who excel at it nonetheless, however more often than not I find they appear hesitant, like a lion being fed a dead animal – there’s no instinct in killing something that’s already dead.

I’m willing to bet that if the opposing team was allowed a player to start at the rear blueline when KovyII touches the puck, that the puck goes to the back of the net like it would during regulation.

so….that goalie we let go for nothing is now 2nd in the league in save percentage and leading the league in goals against average……way to go Habs management….how could you do this? how could you let Mathieu Garon go???? first Vokoun and now Garon? Michael Leighton, the list goes on….. we got nothing for these guys. I am content with the Halak deal since we got a very promising looking young center and made cap space going forward…but Mathieu Garon!…c’mon guys give your heads a shake!! http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/statistics/

1) I would trade Spacek and put Picard in his place. That would free up quite a bit of cap space to acquire a solid top 6 winger. If he can’t start producing or at least playing solid offensively, I would happily trade Gomez for a solid 2nd line center with a cap hit in the 3mil range (Saku!) and use the rest of the $ for a solid winger, OR, an excellent center with a similar cap hit (ie Brad Richards). Since none of that is very likely, trade OB and maybe package in a depth forward like Boyd for a serviceable prospect or draft pick.

2) Any combo that gets our top guns going would be awesome. I’d keep the PHD line together if they can continue being productive. I’d love to reunite the AK/Pleks/Cammy line but only if GG are able to get it going.

3) If he can play solid and get us wins while allowing Carey to rest, somewhere around 20. I want Caery nice and fresh come playoff time. Plus it gives Auld a decent amount of playing time to keep him satisfied and hopefully we can keep him on as a backup at his current salary. He and Carey also seem to have a good relationship which I think is important for stability. It also avoids any goaltending controversies, or having a different backup coming in every year or two and hoping he and Carey mesh well.

A Veteran is someone, who at one point in their life, wrote a blank checkpayable to Canada for an amount up to, and including, their life. That is beyond honour, and there are far too many people in this country who no longer remember that fact…….

Thank a Veteran. Support our Troops

“Without the strength of the past, the team may face a choice – to win, or to be French-Canadian?” — Ken Dryden

1. I have two answers. The first one (being based on last years stats and (hopefully) consistency through the season) would have to be Cammalleri. If we’re talking guesses not based on facts, I would pick/hope it would be Plecks or Cammi. Plecks creates so many chances and (so far this year) is constantly shooting on the net.

2. Based on the current standings and just general ability to play thus far…I’d say there could be a pretty even deadlock for our division. Ottawa is strong but not always consistent, Boston is tough but they aren’t always scoring a lot of goals and then you have us who are also only semi consistent and seem to have sleepy forwards. Honestly I think we could pull it off if we keep matching Ottawa for wins and/or trade losses with them.

3. Again this is just personal preference: Cammi or Plecks. But with the NHL changing the way the All Star Teams are chosen, it will be interesting to see if the captains see the same positive things that we see in our players.

4. If history has taught us anything with the Canadiens, it’s that the trade deadline day isn’t always our friend. He might try to free up a spec of cap space by trading out one of our UFA’s for a small, inexpensive forward, or he might twidle his thumbs and hope that a good offer comes up before he has to make up his mind.

5. Bahaha. Once he stops being scared of shooting his scoring groove might come back.

And just because that was so much fun, I have three questions for you:

1. Who would you trade out/send to the minors right now if you could and why?

2. What would your idea lines be? (I’m serious, who would you put where and why do you think it would work)

3. How many games do you think JM will allow Auld to play this season?

“I know you’re wise beyond your years, but do you ever get the fear that your perfect verse is just a lie you tell yourself to help you get by?”

So far, the only result of Jacques Martin’s line-juggling is that neither of our top lines can score. I think he should stop the experimenting and put together some consistent lines. Reunite the Plekanec line for a start. None of those players have scored since the line was broken up. The only other experiment I would try is to put Halpern with Gionta and Pouliot, demoting Gomez to the third line.